Chris Sopa, International

Workshops

Youth Leadership

Enabling youth to make positive life choices
The America's Rising Stars Process is designed to help today's youth develop their personal leadership skills and begin to set goals and directions for their lives beginning at an earlier age. Leadership is essential in enabling youth to develop character, confidence, and values that promote the understanding of healthy behavior.

A Formula For Success
Rising Stars is an innovative and unique inside-out self-development process. This research-based approach focuses on three critical elements that promote personal leadership, healthy behaviors, and the skills employers identify as essential. These elements are developed, applied, and reinforced throughout the process and through a follow-up process to strengthen and perpetuate successful behaviors.

Outcomes:

Healthy Behavior (protective)

Drug-free
Non-violent
Law-abiding
Social confidence
Abstain from early sexual activity

Thriving (enhancement/personal optimism)

School success
Affirmation of diversity
Compassion for others
Leadership
Choosing a healthy lifestyle (nutrition and exercise)

Resiliency

Capacity to rebound in the face of adversity
Participant successfully applies skills from their assessment
Seeks out options from diverse alternatives
Able to make goal-oriented informed decisions
Communicates effectively in diverse situations (socially confident)
Demonstrates leadership in various situations
Team player and/or leader
Provides a vision and purpose to a cause
Uses influence to obtain planned outcomes

Outcomes of the pilot participants

Graduates had a 40% grade point increase
Graduates had a 56% reduction in school disciplinary/truancy incident
College attendance within one pilot site increased from 5% to 75%

"For the first time in the history of this country, young people are less healthy and less prepared to take their places in society than their parents. Moreover, this is happening at a time when our society is more complex, more challenging, and more competitive than ever before."
- a recent American Medical Association report

Workshop Syllabus

Chapter 1: Leadership
Young people learn qualities of an effective leader. These qualities are developed, not inherited. They then begin to explore self-leadership and continual improvement.

Chapter 2: S-U-C-C-E-S-S
Young people begin to define their personal destiny and learn to develop a healthy self-image by creating a positive dialogue with themselves.
Chapter 3: Glancing Back
Your past experiences in life shape your present thoughts and actions. In this chapter, young people understand how they are conditioned and the effects it has on success.
Chapter 4: Attitude is Everything
Young people learn and explore what attitudes are, how they are developed, and the effect they have on behavior. They then learn techniques for attitude development.
Chapter 5: Setting Goals
Young people learn the process of effective goal setting and how to take ownership of their personal goals.
Chapter 6: Achieving Success
Young people explore success and begin to identify obstacles to success along with the benefits of planning and writing out their goals.
Chapter 7: Solutions Into Action
Fear and courage are two emotions that can either accelerate or prevent goal achievement. In this chapter, young people explore their self-concept and how to act on their goals.
Chapter 8: Watch the Clock
Time management is one skill we all need to continually improve upon. In this chapter, young people are introduced to effective time management techniques and begin to practice them.
Chapter 9: Do You Know Yourself?
Is the glass half full or half empty? Young people explore their self-concept and techniques on how to develop a powerful "self".
Chapter 10: Human Needs and Motivation
What motivates you and those around you? Young people explore motivation, and learn the appropriate uses for each type.
Chapter 11: Leading Others
Leadership is situational, and to be an effective leader of others, you need to understand the situation and act appropriately.
Chapter 12: Do You Hear What I Hear?
Do your actions stand together with your words? Young people learn the methods of effective communications.
Chapter 13: Making Decisions and Solving Problems
Avoidance of making a decision is a decision. How do you make an effective decision?
Chapter 14: Continuing Your Leadership Growth
How do you internalize continual personal improvement?

©2005 Chris Sopa, International & Resource Associates Corp.